I guess the title says it all!!!!!
Motors, Motors, Motors!!!!!
Posted 11-06-2007 at 12:49 PM by Matchless
Flying my new prototype I decided I wanted a little more power. The motor I was running had plenty of power without the drag brakes installed on the airframe, however when I installed the drag brakes, I found that it did not quite have the umph I wanted.
The motor I was running was a Chrome Chaos from 2DogRC. Its perfect for 4-5oz airplanes, especially freestyle birds. I decided to outfit the airplane with an AXI 2203-46 and a Thunderbird 6 ESC.
I wanted to cut the weight down on the Axi, so I cut off one lug and ground the sides of the prop mount slightly flat. The motor basically did not drop any weight considering the resolution of my scale- that was not worth the effort.... Then I looked at the T-bird. It has leads on it which are finer wire than the 9amp version. They're also shorter - too short for the long airframe I'm working with. To fix that, I slit the heatshrink covering and removed it. I replaced the ESC servo lead with a longer one of the same fine guage wire, I also replaced the power leads with some longer wire. Then I slipped the heatshrink back on and mounted it on the airframe.
All told, I gave up 2-3 grams on the power system.... .
However, then I remembered another difference....... and decided to quantify it..... Every motor seems to have a prop that it likes best. Thats true whether glow, gas or electric. With the Chrome Chaos, it really liked the carbon fiber props I've been running. The other benefit is the fact that they are very light.....
The Axi does not have a shaft that will fit the carbon props. So, I therefore need to run either the APC 3.8 which weighs almost 6 grams, or the GWS which is about 4grams.
I hope that there will be some new motors coming out this year, and believe there will be. In the meantime, I'll fly what I've got. : )
Total Comments 8
Comments
 |  Hi Matchless, Do you like the AXI 2203-46 over the Eflight Park 250 and what is your experience with either. I own the 250 but was interested in the Axi for a sub 5 oz bird I am building. Thanks in advance!!! John C. |
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| |  I experimented with cutting away much of the extra material on the GWS prop hub. I actually melted it away with a soldering iron. You can take a LOT of weight off if you are determined (and careful). It wont be a CF prop, but its better than nothing. |
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| |  John, honestly, the smallest Park I've run is the 300. That is a great little motor, and obviously a great value for the money, but I found that it did not perform to the same level as the equivalent Axi (2204-54). Both motors have almost identical specifications, however when I ran the Park in the air and on the wattmeter it was about 5-7% down on the numbers (if memory serves me right). Comparing the 2203-46 and the 250 is a bit of apples to Oranges as they don't have the same KV rating, but from the numbers alone, I'd expect more power from the Axi than the Park, whereas the Park appears to be a bit lighter if the numbers on the Horizon site are right. |
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| | Edge 540, I've done that before myself. Managed to get by the LHS to pick up a GWS prop to mess with... I usually don't like them, but they are lighter... Might as well try it and see..... |
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| | Thanks Matchless, this info is very helpful. I will try the Axi with an 8x4.3 prop and see how she tugs my 5 oz bird... got to go place my order!!!!!  JC |
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| |  I have flown today one of my foamies of an AUW of about 4oz with a hacker a 10-15s with 5A hacker ESC. It's a really powerful setup with 7x3,5 GWS prop ans 2s 300 cells. I think that it would even better suit a heavier, which means bigger airframe, so a lighter wing loading!! I would just wish that GWS would put out a 7x3,5-4 prop. I will have to stay with a heavier APC for now. |
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| | Very cool Boogie! I'm on the same page regarding props. We're a bit limited by the available options out there... |
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| | I should have mentioned that I wanted a Slow Fly prop in the 7" range from GWS. Yeah, we are in the same boat, but on diferent levels, I am just tad above the bottom, and you are reaching the top! |
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